A convicted murderer who sparked a nationwide manhunt after escaping from a bail hostel in Hull has been re-arrested after absconding from prison while on day release.

William Kerr, 56, who is also known as Billy, went on the run two years ago after going missing from an approved premises in the city in March 2015.

His disappearance was featured on Crimewatch and Kerr was eventually arrested a month later in the Waterloo area of London.

Kerr has since been detained at HMP Hollesley Bay in Suffolk but on Friday, he caused panic after failing to return to a rendezvous point in Ipswich where he was on a few hours' release.

William Kerr caused a manhunt to be launched after absconding from prison (Image: Suffolk Police/PA Wire)

The killer, who is serving a life sentence, was eventually apprehended after a member of public spotted him in the town's centre.

A spokesperson for Suffolk Police said: "William Kerr, who was reported missing by prison authorities after failing to return to a rendezvous point in Ipswich during the afternoon of Friday, December 1, has been arrested by police.

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"Following our earlier media release, an alert member of the public, who had seen his photograph, telephoned police to report seeing him in Ipswich town centre.

"Officers attended immediately and he was taken to Martlesham Police Investigation Centre pending his transfer back to the prison system.

Kerr was the subject of a nationwide manhunt in 2015

"Suffolk Police would like to thank everybody who reported potential sightings of him during his absence."

Kerr was jailed in 1998 for the murder of Maureen Comfort whose body was found in a cupboard in her flat in Leeds in January 1996.

He was jailed along with co-defendant Christopher Moody for the murder of 43-year-old, who had been strangled.